7.28.2004

It's amazing how quickly a month can whiz by. It's not like I haven't noticed that I haven't been writing; in fact, I've fully intended to write, but I kept putting it off. And now look where we are. The problem is that I had a specific goal, an event I wanted to write about, and even though I had a bunch of things to say in between, nothing else would do but the write-up of my nightmarish trip to Yosemite over 4th of July. This account of our tragicomedy hasn't happened yet, but I vow that I will write it up. Meanwhile, I will get back on the wagon and start updating more often.

Tonight was our fabulously successful book club. We discussed Life of Pi and actually managed to stay on topic most of the time, digressing only here and there into work gossip and other assorted topics like Judy Blume and nuns' names. Here are a couple of insights we had into the book:

Choosing which story you want to believe in is much like choosing a religion. They are all equally true, and it's a question of which story you prefer.

Yann Martell, in various interviews we checked out, sounds like a pretentious dork who might be rather annoying to hang out with. But we don't care because of his ability to spin such a lush and meaningful tale.

Creepiest moments include: the island, the french sailor, the end

Saddest moment include: when Richard Parker runs off into the jungle without saying goodbye, when Pi goes blind

There are many circle symbols throughout the book, perhaps to support the Pi motif.

The book's fundamental concept is based on another book, Max and the Cats. The group was divided about whether Martell use of the premise was fair or not.